Japanese Paper Art and How to Fold your Own

Origami, the art of paper folding, has been popular since the early seventh century,

Perhaps you first saw this magical technique as a child, did you make one of the famous paper Peace Cranes in school ? Seeing an ordinary piece of paper turn into some type of creature or toy is fascinating. How is it done?

In only a few minutes you will be folding paper before you know it. Here's how to make a few simple items and directions to more intricate Japanese Paper Art.

Warning : Once you get started it's very hard to stop!

I really want to make some origami doodly things. After some frustrating attempts, I picked out the best youtube videos and now I'm getting stuck into it. Wish me luck, I just can't seem to fold them!

I thought I'd try my luck at making an Origami Business Card Cube.

To be honest, I had dreams of amazing my friends and earning the admiration of a small grandson, but the result wasn't really what I had hoped for.

If you can get a good-looking result, please let me know.

Business Card Origami from Nancy Oram

How about you? Can you compare with Nancy?

Pureland origami is a style of origami that is done by creating only one fold at a time.

• A valley fold is the first basic fold, in which you fold the paper forward onto itself
• A mountain fold is the second basic fold, in which the paper is folded behind itself. An easier way to do this is to turn the paper over first and then do a valley fold and turn the paper back over again
• A pleat fold is several evenly-spaced parallel mountain and valley folds. Also called an "accordion fold."
• A radial pleat fold is an angled pleat fold, usually with a focus point on an edge or corner.
• A blintz fold is made by folding the corners of a square into the center. This can be achieved with higher accuracy by folding and unfolding two reference creases through the center.

Amaze yourself with the designs in Dollar Origami.

As origami-wizard, Won Park, says "A dollar won't buy you a camera or a shark—but there is a way to make it into one"!

Not for the beginner, more for someone who can make teeny, weeny folds.

If you've got a little bit of origami practice behind you, this is just inspiring!

Samurai would exchange gifts with a form known as a noshi, a paper folded with a strip of dried fish or meat, as a good luck token. Shinto Noblemen would celebrate weddings by wrapping glasses of sake or rice wine in butterfly forms that had been folded to represent the bride and groom.

As easier papermaking methods were developed, paper became less expensive and origami became a popular art for everyone.

For centuries there were no written directions for folding origami models but passed down by example over the generations. Then, in 1797, a book was published containing the first written set of origami instructions. That book was How to Fold 1000 Cranes.

According to ancient legend, if a person folded 1000 cranes, they would be granted one wish.

Ten years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Sadako Sasaki died from leukemia from the radiation.. Before she died, Sadako determined to fold one thousand paper cranes.

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury.

The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy beasts (others include the dragon and tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years.

This is the story of the Thousand Paper Cranes .....

Did you do these at school? I wish we had videos available when I was trying to make mine.

Kirigami is another form of folding paper where you are allowed to make small cuts in the paper.

I remember these from school, we seemed to spend a lot of time making paper snowflakes. Unfolding the paper snowflake was always a delightful surprise because it's almost impossible to make the exact pattern twice! Just like a real snowflake.

In origami, papercutting is frowned upon as it's considered that cutting is unnecessary for a skilled folder. But let's face it, we aren't all artists and kirigami is much easier to do than pure origami.

Origami also flourished in other parts of the world.

Arabs brought the techniques of papermaking to North Africa, and in the eighth century the Moors carried the skill to Spain. The Moors, a strict religious people, were forbidden to create representational figures so their paper folding was geometric. You can see this in the stars and boxes we still make.

Modern origami was popularised in the 1930s when Akira Yoshizawa designed thousands of models of various subjects. His work was exhibited through the West and inspired new generations of paperfolders.

The art form continues to evolve and is now beyond the traditional origami.

Styles and techniques include: technical origami, mathematical origami, contemporary origami, modular origami, wet folding origami, pureland origami, dollar bill origami, and business card origami.